Social inequality and signaling in a costly ritual

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14210%2F21%3A00119137" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14210/21:00119137 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.05.006" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.05.006</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.05.006" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.05.006</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Social inequality and signaling in a costly ritual

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Evolutionary perspectives suggest that participation in collective rituals may serve important communicative functions by signaling practitioners' commitment to the community and its values. While previous research has examined the effects of ritual signals at the individual and collective level, there has been limited attention directed to the impact of socio-environmental factors on the quality of ritual signaling. We examined this impact in the context of the Thaipusam Kavadi, a collective ritual performed by Tamil Hindus worldwide that involves body piercings and other costly activities. We show that participants' relative position in the social hierarchy systematically affects the form of ritual signaling. Specifically, we found that low-status participants are more likely to engage in signaling modalities that require somatic and opportunity costs in the form of body piercings and cumulative effort, while high-status individuals are more likely to use financial capital, in the form of more elaborate material offerings to the deity. Moreover, signaling in each particular modality is stronger among individuals who participate in more public (but not private) rituals, corresponding to their long-term commitment to the community. In sum, our results demonstrate that social hierarchies exact unequal requirements on ritual participants, who in turn modify their signaling strategies accordingly.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Social inequality and signaling in a costly ritual

Popis výsledku anglicky

Evolutionary perspectives suggest that participation in collective rituals may serve important communicative functions by signaling practitioners' commitment to the community and its values. While previous research has examined the effects of ritual signals at the individual and collective level, there has been limited attention directed to the impact of socio-environmental factors on the quality of ritual signaling. We examined this impact in the context of the Thaipusam Kavadi, a collective ritual performed by Tamil Hindus worldwide that involves body piercings and other costly activities. We show that participants' relative position in the social hierarchy systematically affects the form of ritual signaling. Specifically, we found that low-status participants are more likely to engage in signaling modalities that require somatic and opportunity costs in the form of body piercings and cumulative effort, while high-status individuals are more likely to use financial capital, in the form of more elaborate material offerings to the deity. Moreover, signaling in each particular modality is stronger among individuals who participate in more public (but not private) rituals, corresponding to their long-term commitment to the community. In sum, our results demonstrate that social hierarchies exact unequal requirements on ritual participants, who in turn modify their signaling strategies accordingly.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

60304 - Religious studies

Projekt

<a href="/cs/project/GA18-18316S" target="_blank" >GA18-18316S: Evoluce rituálního chování jako komunikační technologie</a><br>

Návaznosti

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Rok uplatnění

2021

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Evolution and Human Behavior

ISSN

1090-5138

e-ISSN

1879-0607

Svazek periodika

42

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

6

Stát vydavatele periodika

NL - Nizozemsko

Počet stran výsledku

10

Strana od-do

524-533

Kód UT WoS článku

000711151400007

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85112815645